Tazewell County TRIAD’s Executive Board would like to invite area seniors and vendors to “TOTALLY TAZEWELL SENIOR FEST 2013- Fall Back to the Fifties”. \This annual event will be held at the Fondulac Park District Building, 201 Veterans Drive East Peoria IL, on Wednesday October 9, 2013 from 10am until 2pm.

Totally Tazewell Senior Fest is an opportunity for TRIAD to reach out to seniors and display some of the resources that are available to them. This annual event will feature vendor booths themed after 50’s TV Shows from various areas of senior involvement, entertainment, games, food, and door prizes. Mark your calendars seniors; this is one you won’t want to miss!

A File of Life vendor booth will also be available to seniors. The File of Life is a voluntary program designed to help local first responders to quickly obtain in an emergency the necessary medical history, support needs, and emergency contact information. It could help save your life. The File of Life is a refrigerator magnet with an attached red plastic pocket labeled “FILE OF LIFE”. In the plastic pocket is a tri-fold card on which you can record your vital emergency information.

Vendor Booths are still available for this event. There will be Best Themed Booth and Costume Contests for all vendors! Space is limited. For more information on vendor booths or the event, please contact Jessica Schmidgall at (309) 241-4914.

Peoria Players is excited to open our 95th consecutive season with the beautiful musical Les Miserables directed by Connie Sinn!

This production is based on the novel of the same name by French poet and playwright Victor Hugo. With music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, original French lyrics by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, and an English-language libretto by Herbert Kretzmer, the setting is early 19th-century France. Jean Valjean, a French peasant in his quest for redemption after serving nineteen years in jail, decides to break his parole and start his life anew. Along the way, Valjean is relentlessly tracked down by a police inspector named Javert, and a slew of characters are swept into a revolutionary period in France, where a group of young idealists make their last stand at a street barricade.This unforgettable story is the world’s longest running musical, which features the well-known classics, “Do You Hear the People Sing?,” “Bring Him Home,” “On My Own,” “I Dreamed a Dream,” and so many more gorgeous songs! There is limited seating available for September 6 and 7 at 7:30 pm and September 8 at 2:00. There are still good seats available for September 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 at 7:30 pm and for September 14 and 15 at 2:00 pm. Please call the box office at 688-4473 (tickets must be paid for at the time of reservation), or visit us online. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Tickets are $18 for adults and $12 for patrons 18 and younger, with a special adult rate of $15 on Wednesday, September 11. Hurry — tickets are going fast!

Season Tickets
There is still time to purchase your 2013-2014 season tickets. We are offering 6 terrific productions in the season package this year! For only $85, you will enjoy all 6 productions while saving money! Give us a call at 688-4473 to set up your season subscription. Our lineup includes the following shows:

Developing an emergency Plan is the first step

CENTRAL ILLINOIS — Disasters can strike quickly and often without warning. During National Preparedness Month, the American Red Cross encourages all households to get ready for the next emergency or disaster.

“Having a game plan in place is essential for all households so everyone knows what they should do when an emergency occurs,” said Alyssa Pollock, Regional Emergency Services Officer. “National Preparedness Month is a perfect time for central Illinois residents to create or update their plan.”

MAKE A PLAN It is important that everyone in the household helps put the emergency plan together and knows what they should do if something occurs. Household members may not be together when a disaster happens – during the day many people are at work and school. The plan should include ways to contact one another and two predetermined places to meet – one near the home in case of a sudden emergency like a fire, and one outside the neighborhood in case circumstances prevent people from returning home. People should also identify an emergency contact person from outside the area in case local telephone lines are overloaded or out of service.

Any emergency plan should also include decisions about where family members will go if ordered to evacuate and what route they will take to get there. It’s a good idea to include alternate routes in case roads are closed. If pets are part of the household, make sure to include plans for them such as pet-friendly hotels and animal shelters along the evacuation route.

RED CROSS APPS The Red Cross has free mobile apps that provide information on what to do before, during and after emergencies including developing an emergency plan. “People can use the ‘Make a Plan’ feature in the apps to create their plan and then share it with their loved ones,” Pollock said. “The preloaded content in the apps gives people access to vital information to use during emergencies, even if they can’t connect to the internet.” The apps can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store for Android by searching for American Red Cross.

OTHER WAYS TO GET READY Another step to get one’s household ready is to build an emergency kit in a container that is easy to carry so the family can use it at home or take it with them if asked to evacuate. It should contain a three-day supply of water (one gallon, per person, per day), nonperishable food, a flashlight, battery-powered or hand-crank radio, extra batteries, a first aid kit, a 7-day supply of medications, a multi-purpose tool, sanitation and personal hygiene items and copies of important personal documents. The Red Cross also recommends having at least two weeks worth of emergency supplies at home.

Everyone also needs to stay informed about what types of disasters are most likely to occur where they live or where they plan to visit. It is also important to take a First Aid and CPR/AED course—a vital component of disaster preparedness in case emergency help is delayed. Visit redcross.org/takeaclass to find local class offerings.

Contact: press@reformandtermlimits.org

The Committee for Legislative Reform and Term Limits began circulating petitions today to place a state constitutional amendment on the November 2014 ballot that would reform the legislature and enact term limits on state legislators.

“Too many in Springfield are part of a broken system that puts getting re-elected first and allows the special interests and government union bosses to effectively own the politicians,” said Bruce Rauner, chairman of the initiative. “At the same time, Illinois is full of politicians who use their power to enrich themselves as well as their political allies. It’s time to put the citizens first and that is what this amendment will do.”

“This constitutional amendment will help shift the balance of power in state government back towards the citizens,” Rauner continued. “Every element of this amendment is a good government reform and will empower the voters and make elections more competitive.”

“The broken system in Springfield is a bipartisan problem that deserves a bipartisan solution,” Rauner said. “Both Pat Quinn and Bill Daley have expressed support for term limits in the past. I eagerly encourage them to join this initiative and make it bipartisan.”

The proposed amendment would limit legislators to 8 total years in the legislature. Limiting the amount of time a politician can be in the legislature will help remove the structural incentives for self-dealing that currently exist in Illinois.

The constitutional amendment also reduces the number of state Senate seats from 59 to 41 while the state House will go to 123 seats, allowing 3 House seats to be ‘nested’ within each Senate district. This structural reform will make Senate elections more competitive and save the state money.

Last, the amendment would increase the threshold to override a governor’s veto from a three-fifths majority to a two-thirds majority. The governor is the only statewide-elected official directly involved in the lawmaking process, so reforming the veto override threshold not only brings Illinois in line with most other states as well as the U.S. Constitution’s treatment of congressional overrides of presidential vetoes, but helps ensure the best interests of all Illinoisans are represented.

The three interrelated reforms – term limits, legislative restructuring and changing the threshold for overriding a gubernatorial veto – together make structural and procedural changes to the Illinois Constitution and will result in a government more responsive to the people of Illinois.

In an initiative regarding the size of the House of Representatives, cumulative voting and single member districts, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the amendment, noting that all the questions were “related to the purpose of structural and procedural change in the House of Representatives” and were also interrelated and satisfied the single purpose test.

(PEORIA, September 4, 2013) — The Central Illinois Health Information Exchange (CIHIE) has added several new members to the organization. Rochelle Community Hospital, a 16-bed Critical Access Hospital that serves Ogle, northern Lee and western DeKalb counties, is one of CIHIE’s newest members. The hospital features a Multi-Specialty Center and the following services: emergency care, diagnostic imaging, home health services, rehabilitation services, occupational health, inpatient and outpatient surgery, outpatient services, pain management, and diabetic self-management.

CIHIE received a $349,000 “White Space Grant” in March from the Illinois Office of Health Information Technology (OHIT) to accelerate connectivity of long-term care providers to exchange technology. Federal health officials refer to “White Space” healthcare providers as those who are practicing in areas that are currently underserved by health information technology infrastructure.

During 2013, the grant funds are allowing CIHIE to offer:
· Education, technical assistance and support for long-term care organizations, as they work to ready their staff and systems for participation in the exchange;
· Secure messaging services to replace faxing and mailing paper records between healthcare providers; and
· Instant, real-time access to CIHIE’s aggregate community health record – which provides clinicians with a single place to access patient records from multiple sources.

As part of the grant initiative, the following long-term care providers (named by location) have joined CIHIE:
· Abingdon: Care Center of Abingdon
· Arthur: Arthur Home
· Belvidere: Heritage Woods of Belvidere
· Bloomington: Heritage Health – Bloomington
· Chilicothe: Heritage Health – Chilicothe
· Clinton: Liberty Village of Clinton
· Decatur: Eagle Ridge of Decatur, Fair Haven, Hickory Point, Heartland Healthcare Decatur, McKinley Court, Symphony of Decatur
· Dwight: Heritage Woods of Dwight, Heritage Health – Dwight
· Galesburg: Seminary Manor
· Henry: Heartland Healthcare Henry
· Lincoln: The Christian Village, Symphony of Lincoln
· Neoga: Heartland Christian Village
· Normal: Heartland Healthcare Normal, Heritage Health – Normal
· Ottawa: Heritage Woods of Ottawa
· Pekin: John M. Evans Supportive Living, Pekin Manor,
· Peoria: Heartland Healthcare Peoria, Heartland Healthcare Riverview, Liberty Village of Peoria
· Peru: Manor Court of Peru
· Rockford: Heritage Woods of Rockford
· Springfield: Lewis Memorial Christian Village
· Streator: Heritage Health – Streator
· Urbana: Prairie Winds – Urbana
· Washington: Washington Christian Village

“Health information exchange is a secure technology that allows a provider to access a patient’s current healthcare records from multiple sources in one place. For long-term care facilities, this means they can more immediately review a patient’s hospital discharge records, along with recent records from a primary care physician and any specialists in order to establish the best plan of care, ” said Joy Duling, Executive Director of CIHIE.

CIHIE is the first regional health information exchange to be operational in the State of Illinois. Patient data first became available through the exchange in June 2012.

The League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria will meet with the Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance to consider air quality in the area, at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 11, in the McKenzie Room, North Branch Peoria Public Library, 3001 West Grand Parkway, Peoria.

Air pollution issues for the Peoria Illinois River Valley region and the impact of the Edwards power plant on air quality will be discussed by Kady McFadden, Sierra Club staff, and members of the Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance. An Ameren representative has been invited to participate in this event.

The meeting will focus on the health effects of sulfur dioxide air pollution and particulates from coal fired power plants, and the public health costs to our area. The Edwards power plant is currently owned by Ameren, however, a Texas corporation named Dynegy plans to take over the plant. Significant questions for this area include the Dynegy bankruptcy in 2012 and other management concerns.

The League of Women Voters is a member of the Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance and is acting on national League policy regarding clean air concerns. Refreshments will be served. The meeting is free and the public is invited to attend.

The Peoria Park District’s Wrought Metal Design class on Saturday, September 21 from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. at Free to Bead teaches participants ages 12+ how to twist and hammer metal to create one of a kind designs. Cost is $17/residents, $20/non-residents. Register online using code 57810.

For more information or to register, visit www.peoriaparks.org/craft-classes or call (309) 688-3667.

PEORIA, IL –To help residents securely dispose of sensitive material and prevent identity theft, state Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria) will be hosting her 5th annual Community Shred Day on Saturday, September 7 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the North Parking Lot of Landmark Recreation Center. AAA Confidential Security will shred documents, disks and hard drives that are dropped off the day of the event.

“Most people have old documents or hard drives with sensitive information that they do not need any more and this is a great way to safely dispose of them,” Gordon-Booth said. “By stopping by and securely discard items and know they will not get into the hands of identity thieves. I urge anyone with personal information to stop by and properly get rid of your items.

Identity thieves try to steal information from consumers in a variety of ways, including rummage through the trash. With this sensitive information, criminals can open fraudulent credit card and utility accounts, create counterfeit checks, and secure loans in the names of their unsuspecting victims.

Residents are welcome to drop off old personal documents, unused credit cards, computer disks or hard drives to be securely destroyed by AAA Confidential Security Corporation, a NAID certified shredding company based in Peoria. There is a limit of 10 boxes. For more information, contact Gordon-Booth’s constituent service office at (309) 681-1992 or by email at repjgordon@gmail.com.

What: 5th Annual Free Community Shred Day
Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth and AAA Confidential Security Corporation
When: Saturday, September 7 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Where: Landmark Recreation Center, 3225 Dries Lane, North Parking Lot, Peoria

The 33rd Annual Bishop Hill Fiber Guild Spin-In / Hooks, Needles, & Wheels will be held Saturday, October 19, 2013, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Embassy Suites Hotel & RiverFront Conference Center, 100 Conference Center Drive, East Peoria, IL 61611.

Bring your hooks, needles, and wheels and plan to spend the day for shopping; casual learning in our spinning, knitting, weaving, crocheting, and beading centers; Viewers’ Choice; door prizes; fun; and games.

$5.00 entry for Shopping Only; $15.00 entry for Full Experience Spin-In. Pre-registration is not required, but encouraged. To register or for more information, contact Char Rickey at spinwool7@aol.com, call 309-472-7085, or visit the website at www.bishophillfiberguild.org.

Tickets Still Available For Evening Celebration

Community Workshop Training Center, Inc. presents its annual “CWTC Pathway Awards, Dinner and Auction” Tuesday, September 10, 2013 at the Embassy Suites Hotel & Conference Center in East Peoria. The evening festivities celebrate accomplishments of CWTC’s consumers, pay tribute to the many people who have helped CWTC in the past year and salute those who have contributed in extraordinary ways.

The auction and cocktails begin at 5:00PM, with the dinner and program starting at 6:00PM. This year, several CWTC consumers will be guest speakers. Plenty of tickets are still available for just $50 and reservations are being accepted by calling Michele Payton at 686-3300. Deadline is Monday, September 9th at 12 Noon.

This year’s event is being sponsored by CEFCU, CityLink, Federal Companies, Unland Companies and it360.

CWTC, Community Workshop and Training Center, Inc., provides programs and services to adults with disabilities; enriching their quality of life, promoting social change, and optimizing their potential for independence.

Who: Community Workshop Training Center
What: 2013 CWTC Pathway Awards, Dinner and Auction
Where: Embassy Suites Hotel & Conference Center, 100 Conference Center Dr, East Peoria
When: Tuesday, September 10, 2013; Auction and cocktails 5PM; Dinner and Program 6PM